Power. Progress. Prevention. March 24, 2017

After failing to secure the needed votes for the American Health Care Act, House Republicans today withdrew the bill from consideration.

In the end, the changes this bill would have made to the Affordable Care Act by eliminating the Prevention and Public Heath Fund would have been devastating to cancer prevention, screening, early detection and treatment.

The bill also would have put an end to essential health benefits, which includes vaccines, cancer screenings such as mammograms and colonoscopies, and many other vital health care benefits such as maternity, emergency and pediatric care.

Prevention saves money in the long run—and saves lives. We will continue to do everything we can to make it easier for people to access cancer screening and coverage for preventive services, which is essential to millions of Americans.

We are grateful to Congress for listening and for all of you who answered our call to contact your members of Congress and asked them to protect prevention.

White House’s proposed budget threatens medical research funding

President Donald Trump released his first budget proposal last week. It includes steep cuts to medical research, cutting funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by $6 billion (20 percent) and the overall budget of the Department of Health and Human Services by 18 percent.

If enacted, this budget will severely set back research in our understanding of what causes cancer, as well as new cancer treatments, cancer prevention and early detection. It could undo the step forward we took last year with the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act—a law enacted with overwhelming bipartisan support. 21st Century Cures allocated $6 billion in funding for the NIH and has invigorated medical research, promoted innovation and is working to speed the development of new treatments for cancer and other chronic diseases.

The Prevent Cancer Foundation® is excited to announce the recipients of our 2017 research grants. Since 1986, our donors have helped fund more than 500 grants to early-career scientists from more than 150 of the leading academic medical institutions nationwide. The Foundation awards several grants and fellowships each year to promising and novel hypotheses for cancer prevention and early detection.

This year’s eight recipients are studying a wide range of projects, from the effects of e-cigarette use on your lungs to understanding how obesity leads to liver cancer. Read about the newly-funded projects here.